1. |
Need for Religion
03:09
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I searched the blue horizon
And underneath my bed
For faith and hope and peace of mind
To put inside my head
So I looked for an altar
I learned to pray
Just like you're supposed to do
Maybe it was just my need for religion that made me believe in you
You have a certain charm
That's undeniable and strange
I gave you all of my best emotions
My heart, my home, my spare change
You showed me ten new commandments
You talked in tongues
Each syllable sounded true
But it was just my need for religion that made me believe in you
It was just my need for religion
That swept me away
And you laughed while I prayed
I pass you on the sidewalk
And I don't mean to be rude
But when I see you with your new disciple
I am filled with gratitude
That I ran from the rapture
Tore up your prayers
I guess that maybe God only knew
That it was just my need for religion that made me believe in you
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2. |
End of the Road
04:37
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Curtains down
Another end of summer
We really thought we had a comer
Now it's coolin' down, down, down
Where to now
Is there a page we haven't turned yet
What if there was some way to get
Another trip around, round, round
While we're waiting here
For the sun to join the moon
Like we remember
Everybody knows it's the end of the road
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3. |
Sweeter Than True
03:27
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SWEETER THAN TRUE (M. Kortes/S. Butler) Magda Lane Music (ASCAP)/ Clementunes (ASCAP)
Here I sit under the sky again
There’s a rainbow overhead
I reach for a piece or two
But nothing moves
The whole world is standing still
A snapshot with no time frame
No winds of change
No you
CHO:
Why is this happening
And where is spring
It’s nearly July
Would do anything
Cry or sing
To make time go by
I walk past places we used to play
Children at heart in hand
I recognize the view
I once thought everything had a point
A reason to be
But then
What was the point of you?
CHO:
And when I feel afraid
I serenade these pictures of you
In the summer shade
The lemonade
Was sweeter than true
CHO:
Why is this happening
And where is spring
It’s long over due
You feel anything
The song you sang was
Sweeter than True
When I feel afraid
I serenade these pictures of you
In the summer shade
The love we made
Was sweeter than true
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4. |
Why Don't You Leave Him
04:36
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WHY DON’T YOU LEAVE HIM (M. Kortes/A. Roman) Magda Lane Music (ASCAP)/Romanesque Music/Annotation Music (ASCAP)
I like to imagine
I live in old times
See men on white horses
Cathedral bells chime
The townspeople scatter
At dusk to their homes
The children are safe
Kings and queens on their thrones
What’s one more illusion
In this head that’s spinning
Like a dream world where love rules
And women are winning
So I don a long cape
‘Cause it covers the proof
That here in the present
I’m battered and bruised
Long gone the days full of honey and sun
When kisses fell on me like rain
We promised our lives would forever be one
Now they say
Why don’t you leave him
Why don’t you leave him
He said he’d kill me
And I believe him
The eyes of the devil
Are staring at me
They crawl in my bed
And destroy all they see
Was he born this angry
Was it family or fate
If God only knows
Why can’t God uncreate him
I pray for a miracle
Come over me
Carry me where I came from
Make me invisible
That would be freedom
They say
Why don’t you leave him
Why don’t you leave him
He said he’d kill me
And I believe him
There will be shelter
And air you can breathe in
He said he’d kill me
And I believe him
Say “no” to the roses
In the fisted glove
The roses will wither
The fist will still shove you
Deep in the forest
Where boundaries fade
Screams turn to silence
As shadows parade and I
Pray for a miracle
Come over me
Give me the strength to become
Make me invincible
That would be freedom
They say
Why don’t you leave him
Why don’t you leave him
He said he’d kill me
And I believe him
There will be shelter
And air you can breathe in
He said he’d kill me
And I believe him
Why don’t you leave him
Why don’t you leave him
He said he’d kill me
And I believe him
There will be shelter
And air you can breathe in
He said he’d kill me
And I believe him
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5. |
One More Sun
03:52
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ONE MORE SUN (M. Kortes/S. Butler) Magda Lane Music (ASCAP)/ Clementunes (ASCAP)
I have learned to watch time pass
Dream by dream through the hourglass
Page by page the past will fold
And day by day I’m nearly whole
Everything’s gonna be alright
One more sun, one more night
Everything’s gonna be alright
One more sun, one more night
And day it’s all the same
We become eachother once again
Hear the promise, hand to heart
Any day now forever starts
Everything’s gonna be alright
One more sun, one more night
Everything’s gonna be alright
One more sun, one more night
Is all that I can keep waiting
The time has come for uncomplicating
And love is near, you know that’s the main thing
Oh I can see from where we stand
Step by step to a promise land
Page by page our story grows
And day by day the darkness goes
Everything’s gonna be alright
One more sun, one more night
Everything’s gonna be alright
One more sun, one more night
Is all that I can keep waiting
I can’t go on elaborating
And love is near, you know that’s the main thing
Everything’s gonna be alright
One more sun, one more night
Everything’s gonna be alright
One more sun, one more night
Give me one more sun
One more night
It’s gonna be alright
Alright, alright
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6. |
Lick the Sunshine
05:29
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LICK THE SUNSHINE (M. Kortes/D. Buskin (Magda Lane Music/ASCAP Poso Music / ASCAP)
Prisoners of circumstance
Locked in this time and place
Trading on our innocence
These chains fall off like lace
Just beneath the surface
We’ve known it all along
No matter what the consequence
Before the light is gone
Lick the sunshine off the leaves
Lick the sunshine off the leaves
We’ve got magic up our sleeves
And only us to please
Lick the sunshine off the leaves
I feel your breath upon me
No finer wind than that
Your fingers tap a rhythm
Like the footfalls of a cat
True lovers of adventure
Dancing down the road
Drinking in the atmosphere
Collecting what we’re owed
Lick the sunshine off the leaves
Lick the sunshine off the leaves
We’ve got magic up our sleeves
And only us to please
Lick the sunshine off the leaves
I’m waiting on the lawn
In shades of green and gold
So many moments passing
So few you want to hold
Lick the sunshine off the leaves
Lick the sunshine off the leaves
We’ve got magic up our sleeves
And only us to please
Lick the sunshine off the leaves
Lick the sunshine off the leaves
Lick the sunshine off the leaves
We’ve got magic up our sleeves
The world is at our knees
Lick the sunshine off the leaves
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7. |
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ONE THOUSAND PROMISES LATER (M. Kortes/S. Butler) MCA Music (ASCAP)/ Clementunes (ASCAP)
I’m not much at love
But I would be a perfect leader
With no golden touch still I promise too much
And somehow you believed in me
Everybody says I’m rough around the edges
But I cut through
I lost my list of pledges
And all I meant to do for you
CHO: Here I stand holding nobody’s hand
One thousand promises later
In command of a ship on dry land
One thousand promises gone
Sorry is just a little word
With a lot of little meanings
Forgive and forget I won’t do that again
And you took me literally
Everybody says that time will heal the wounded
But time will tell
And when this day’s concluded
I’ll build a better wishing well
CHO: Here I stand holding nobody’s hand
One thousand promises later
In command of a ship on dry land
One thousand promises gone
On my honor
I swore that they could end the world
Only you could hurt me
Like I never knew
That promise came true
Everybody says that time will heal the wounded
But time cuts too
And when this day’s concluded
I promise I’ll still ache for you
CHO: Here I stand holding nobody’s hand
One thousand promises later
In command of a ship on dry land
One thousand promises gone
On my honor
I swore that they could end the world
Only you could hurt me
Like I never knew
That promises came true
Here I stand holding nobody’s hand
One thousand promises later....
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8. |
Labor of Love
05:44
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LABOR OF LOVE (M. Kortes/S. Butler) Magda Lane Music (ASCAP)/ Clementunes (ASCAP)
Slaving in the tall grass
How long can this heat last
Up ahead’s a clearing
Quittin time is nearing
I’m ruler of a nation
In my imagination
My arms begin to tire
So I push my sleeves up higher
It’s a labor of love
I’m sweating black and blue
I try and you try too
I’m taking a vacation
Such sweet hallucination
I’m gonna sweep away the ashes
Of your momentary flashes
There’s peace on the horizon
If it’s a mirage it’s a good one
It’s a labor of love
I’m sweating black and blue
I try and you try too
BRIDGE: If it takes all night
It will be alright
Like a bird in flight
It will be alright
Paging through the rule book
It’s longer than a school book
I don’t see any reference
To such passionate indifference
It’s a labor of love
I’m sweating black and blue
I try and you try too
It’s a labor of love
I’m sweating black and blue
I try and you try too
It’s a labor of love
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9. |
If I Were You
03:42
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If I Were You (M. Kortes/S. Butler) Magda Lane Music (ASCAP)/ Clementunes (ASCAP)
You were a king
A lion with wings
All of your life
The threatening grace
Of a cool tranquil face
Suited you fine
And where did it go
All the power that flowed
Like wine over ice?
And what do you do
When luck's run out on you
And stolen your dice?
I'd carry the candlesticks
Down where the daylight won't go
Hold my head high, look out of the wilderness
Learn from the truth
That's what I'd do if I were you
A girl or a liar
Who shook your empire
And left you without
The will to pretend
You could build it again
On the same ground
You wander dazed through the dust
Of the people who trusted you
No one's around
I'd carry the candlesticks
Down where the daylight won't go
Hold my head high, look out of the wilderness
Learn from the truth
That's what I'd do if I were you
I'd carry the candlesticks
Down where the daylight won't go
Hold my head high, look out of the wilderness
Learn from the truth
That's what I'd do if I were you
There was a time
Your words all did rhyme
Your promise rang true
When that time returns
New subjects will yearn for you
I'd take a picture or two
If I were you
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10. |
Love in Another Language
03:53
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LOVE IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE (M. Kortes/S. Butler) MCA Music (ASCAP)/ Clementunes (ASCAP)
I love you is more beautiful
Goodbye won’t hurt so bad
Making love in another language
After all is said and done
We still won’t understand
Making love in another language
I’m going far away
Where nobody knows my name
I’ll put on romantic accents
Disguise the pain
I love you is more beautiful
Goodbye won’t hurt so bad
Making love in another language
No misunderstanding
No charade or slight of hand
Take enough, never take advantage
And after all is said and done
We still won’t understand
Making love in another language
A stronger hand in mine
How come strangers can be so kind
They don’t even have to know you
To read your mind
I love you is more beautiful
Goodbye won’t hurt so bad
Making love in another language
Bridge: Once upon a time you swore your heart
Before I knew
Nobody could tell a lie so true
Not quite like you
Words are only music
We don’t have to comprehend
When it’s love in another language
We can make up meanings
Both the happy and the sad
When it’s love in another language
I love you is more beautiful
Goodbye won’t hurt so bad
Take enough,but never take advantage
And after all is said and done
We still won’t understand
Making love in another language
Oh..
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11. |
Happy Birthday
03:41
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY (M. Kortes/S. Butler) Magda Lane Music (ASCAP)/ Clementunes (ASCAP)
There, I got a new dress and
Nothing too bad to confess and
I’m trading in these old shoes
Here, I see a new morning
Just like the one I was born in
The twelve o’clock bell brings the news
Happy Birthday
One more candle to blow out
I’ll be OK
I oughta know me by now
There, that’s how it all started
Me and the dearly departed
Passing like ships ever more
I’m tossing my old emotions
Cause I’ve heard you can’t find new oceans
Till you lose sight of the shore
Happy Birthday
One more year has gone somehow
You’ll go, I’ll stay
I oughta know me by now
BRIDGE: Happy Birthday
You’ll go I’ll stay
I’ll be OK
Happy Birthday
Tears of joy are falling down
I’ll be OK
I oughta know me by now
Happy Birthday
Do do do do do do do
Happy Birthday
I oughta know me by now
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12. |
In Another Lifetime
03:34
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IN ANOTHER LIFETIME (M. Kortes/A. Roboff) Magda Lane Music (ASCAP)/Rent-A-song (ASCAP)
Not getting any younger
And none too wise
Once more I have fallen
For the same disguise
You said you were ready
And I could rest assured
Blind faith is an illness
They expect to cure
CHO: In another lifetime you might be
Everything you led me to believe
A heart on fire and strong enough to stay
But that's another lifetime away
Who's the one you were fooling
Was it me or you
When you gave me a feeling
Like I never ever knew
Everyone tried to tell me
That it would not last
And my visions of you
Would only come to pass
CHO: In another lifetime you might be
Everything you led me to believe
A heart on fire and strong enough to stay
But that's another lifetime away
BRIDGE: My tears will end just like summer rain
But there'll never come a season when you change
In another lifetime...
CHO: In another lifetime you might be
Everything you led me to believe
A heart on fire and strong enough to stay
But that's another lifetime away
In another lifetime you might be
Everything you led me to believe
A heart on fire and strong enough to stay
But that's another lifetime away
Not getting any younger
No
And none too wise
In another lifetime
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13. |
Lost Art
04:47
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LOST ART (M. Kortes) Magda Lane Music (ASCAP)
Once upon a time
Your hand upon my face
Was like a painter’s brush upon his canvas
The colors that you made
Had beauty, depth and grace
What I’d give to feel again the way your hand was
Like a ruin in its prime
A distant bell, a broken rhyme
CHO: We stand so close
We drift apart
With studied ease we try so hard
And it’s a little late for magic
You won’t find it ‘round these parts
Lost art
It’s a lost art
And we can’t trade it in
Can’t sell it at the fair
Can’t find a better frame for this old artifact
I’m sorry if I seem
As if I just don’t care
When natural beauty fades you can’t just wish it back
Like a ruin that won’t fall
A distant bell tries to recall
CHO: We stand so close
We drift apart
With studied ease we try so hard
And it’s a little late for magic
To be hidden in these hearts
Lost art
It’s a lost art
No one to blame it on
Lost art
BRIDGE: And I can’t cry anymore
Can’t paint these skies blue
As years go by I am sure
I’ll still be picturing you
CHO: And it’s a little late for magic
That river doesn’t run this far
Lost art
It’s a lost art
No one to blame it on
Lost art
Misplaced affection
Lost art
We simply lost our touch
Lost art
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Mary Lee Kortes New York, New York
"Songs so meticulously crafted they sound completely natural". Jon Pareles, The New York Times
“Mary Lee Kortes's
voice—the high mountain sunshine of Dolly Parton with a sweet-iron undercoat of Chrissie Hynde." David Fricke, Rolling Stone
"Mary Lee in concert... a feast for lovers of great songwriting that thrives in live performance for its wit, insight and glowing humanity." Billboard
... more
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